William Stith (1707 – September 19, 1755) was an early American historian and an Anglican minister. He was the third president of the

College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William I ...

(1752–1755), where Stith Hall was named for him.

Early life

Stith was the son of Captain John Stith and

Mary Randolph Mary Randolph (August 9, 1762 – January 23, 1828) was a Southern American cook and author, known for writing ''The Virginia House-Wife; Or, Methodical Cook'' (1824), one of the most influential housekeeping and cook books of the 19th century. ...

, a daughter of

William Randolph William Randolph I (bapt. 7 November 1650 – 11 April 1711) was a planter, merchant and politician in colonial Virginia who played an important role in the development of the colony. Born in Moreton Morrell, Warwickshire, Randolph moved to th ...

(1650– 1711). Stith's grandfather was Major

John Stith John Stith (floruit, fl. 1631–1694) was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses and the progenitor of the Stith family of Virginia, Stith family, one of the First Families of Virginia, first families of Virginia. Early life John Stith was ...

, who participated in Nathaniel Bacon's rebellion. Stith was educated at the

's Grammar School and

The Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassical architecture, ...

. On May 27, 1728, he received his B.A. degree. On April 12, 1731, while still in England, he was ordained a minister of the

Anglican Church Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

. He then returned to Williamsburg.

Career

History of the First Discovery of Virginia 1747

In October 1731, he became a master of the College of William & Mary's Grammar School. He also began his role at the Virginia

House of Burgesses The House of Burgesses was the elected representative element of the Virginia General Assembly, the legislative body of the Colony of Virginia. With the creation of the House of Burgesses in 1642, the General Assembly, which had been establishe ...

as a chaplain. Stith was a minister for 16 years at the Henrico Parish in Henrico County beginning in 1736. He was also a minister in

York County, Virginia York County (formerly Charles River County) is a county in the eastern part of the Commonwealth of Virginia, located in the Tidewater. As of the 2020 census, the population was 70,045. The county seat is the unincorporated town of Yorktown. L ...

of the York-Hampton Parish. In the 1740s and 1750s, three of his sermons were published. ''The Sinfulness and Pernicious Nature of Gaming, 1752'' was preached by Stith in Williamsburg before the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 16 ...

on March 1, 1752. The General Assembly had considered amending the 1748 Act for preventing excessive and deceitful gambling, but tabled the measure after hearing the sermon. The sermon was published in 1752 and became one of the best selling titles that year. He is the author of one of the earliest histories of Virginia, ''The History of the First Discovery and Settlement of Virginia: being an Essay towards a General History of this Colony'', published in Williamsburg by William Parks in 1747. He was also the

's third president (1752–1755) and is the namesake of Stith Hall, a residence hall on the campus.

Marriage and children

He married his first cousin, Judith Randolph, the daughter of

Thomas Randolph of Tuckahoe Thomas Randolph (June 1683 – 1729), also known as Thomas Randolph of Tuckahoe, was the first European settler at Tuckahoe, a member of the House of Burgesses, and the second child of William Randolph and Mary Isham, daughter of Henry Isham ...

on July 13, 1738. They had three daughters: Judith, Elizabeth, and Mary.

Bibliography

Notes

References

1707 births 1755 deaths Alumni of The Queen's College, Oxford American historians College of William & Mary alumni College of William & Mary faculty Presidents of the College of William & Mary Randolph family of Virginia 18th-century American historians {{US-historian-stub